Clinton campaign holds conference call on the state of the race, primarily in Pennsylvania

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s communication directors Howard Wolfson and Phil Singer and policy director Neera Tandan held a conference call to discuss the state of the race. In response to Sen. Obama’s remarks on Pennsylvania voters, Singer said what ultimately matters is the substance of the comment, and that Obama has not spent enough time in Pennsylvania to get to know the communities.

Wolfson said that Clinton understands that it is unwise and inappropriate to “talk down to voters about their values and beliefs” which he said is what many believe Obama did. They said during the call that this has become an important issue in the race, and is of “tremendous importance” to voters in Pennsylvania.

Wolfson also said Obama is outspending Clinton two to one in Pennsylvania this week. He said if Obama fails to win the Pennsylvania primary it will be another sign that he is unable to win in the large states that a candidate on the Democratic ticket would need to win in November. He said the Clinton campaign believes “the road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue runs through Pennsylvania.”

Singer discussed Obama’s refusal to release tax returns from 1997, 1998, and 1999, and said Clinton has over 20 years of tax returns in the public domain. He also said that the campaign remains confidant that there will be a resolution so that votes from the Florida and Michigan primaries will be counted.

Tandan said the economic plan that presidential candidate Sen. McCain is presenting today is a plan that American’s can not afford, and that Clinton’s economic vision is to restore the American middle class, and focuses on the middle class rather than corporate interest. She also said Clinton is laying out an agenda to ensure that a manufacturing base is maintained in the United States.

The conference call participants said they are hopeful that Clinton will get the party nomination for president, but Howard said regardless of the outcome he believes voters will unite to support the party’s candidate against McCain.

Clinton campaign reveals breast cancer policy initiatives

Today a representative from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign hosted a conference call to unveil her new breast cancer policy initiatives, which include increased funding for both research and treatment options for low-income women.


Domestic Policy Director Catherine Brown said that Sen. Clinton will appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show tonight to unveil her plan to find a cure for breast cancer in the near future. Clinton’s plan will include $300 million per year in increased funding for the National Institutes of Health’s breast cancer research, which currently receives $750 million annually. The ultimate goal is to double this number to $1.5 billion over the next 10 years. Brown said that Clinton has committed to reaching this number without increasing the national deficit or drawing funding away from other research, and plans to instead relocate money from companies that are shipping jobs overseas to breast cancer research.

Brown said Clinton’s plan focuses on linking breast cancer and environmental research to find correlations between the two that could lead to prevention measures. The plan also includes the continuation of the breast cancer research stamp and treatment measures that would eliminate Medicare co-payments for mammograms for low-income women.

The campaign declined to comment on questions regarding the resignation of Clinton’s chief strategist, Marc Penn, on the grounds that the call was dedicated to policy issues.